Last Minute Memoirs
by RolledupinOne
Summary: Before he was a dragon, before he was a human, he was a simple raven with a simple life. Then, everything changed. She came into his life, and no longer was he a simple raven. Instead, he had a purpose. This is his story, from his first real memory until where he is now. However, now he's in trouble, and he has little idea of how to get away. In his words: Mistress, where are you?
1. Introduction

_So, I recently saw Maleficent, and they never technically show how Diaval gets away after he get's turned into a dragon, so this is post dragon, pre happily ever after, plus his all his memories and back story. :) Also, this is now a collaboration between FanofRandomThings and me, RolledupinOne  
_

_Warning: Chapter 1 (the next chapter, this is the intro) is dark, so keep that in mind. Most of the story will not be dark, but Chapter 1 is._

* * *

Introduction

One must say, past experiences shape who we are, whether we like to admit it or not. In my case, I see little shame in admitting it, but that doesn't amount to anything when the experiences contain some things I'd rather forget.

I'm aware that past experiences can shape someone's heart to be soft or, in the case of the woman who I found to be so much more than what she first seemed, sharp as a dagger and hard as stone. It's a nature and nurture problem, however, for as I said, she's more than what one might gather from their first look.

Beyond how one acts, there is something else: There's a personality deep inside of us that can never he beat out, no matter how the world tries. That it what I discovered and now, as I wait to learn what will become of me, I suppose this will be my last chance to put things together in my currently rather jumbled mind.

And that's another thing! My mind was clear for so long, that I'd almost forgotten what being in a particular shape for a prolonged time did to me. It had all been rather natural before, having a thought and then having it disappear before I'd even been aware that I'd had it, or more commonly not thinking and simply doing whatever seemed natural without a thought to the reasons behind my actions; and then, suddenly thinking became the most natural thing in the world.

Suddenly, I didn't have to try hard to think. All at once, I remembered things and my actions had some sort of meaning behind them.

Suddenly, I remembered who I was and what I was like, and that I had a purpose in the world besides eating, sleeping, and surviving.

Now, all of that is going away. True, the sights before my eyes seem almost sharper, and the smells stronger, and yet all the mannerisms I had been acquiring seem to be fading away.

I'd best move on before all I can do is concentrate on that silly little golden candleholder on the other side of the room. The sun set just a while ago, though it seems like a lifetime since I was bringing that young prince into the castle. I may only have until dawn...

Now, what was I saying? Oh yes, the events that shaped my life. Well, as I said things were quite jumbled back then, but anything that related to my survival was never absent from my mind. That was what my life was, a constant fight for survival. It seems that is what my life has again become, as well. My current situation isn't all that different than that first memory...

It seems that memories can come back to haunt you.


	2. Chapter 1

_This chapter explains the reason why Diaval has scars, so I'm just warning you again. The preceding chapters are not as dark, promise :)  
_

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Chapter 1

_19 Years Prior_

Sights and smells are said to be more noticeable for those who are younger. That certainly seemed true in this circumstance, for the raven who flew in the clouds was quite preoccupied with its surroundings, revelling in the lush country side, and enjoying the last few days before that which was called winter descended upon the earth.

The once lush grass was dying, and the previously green leaves had long since painted themselves brown and yellow. The gentle sway of the wind pushing the leaves off the branches was colder than it had been even a week before. Autumn was coming, and that meant that the winter freeze would not be long. Food would grow scarce for all creatures, and thus desperation hung heavy in the air, not yet dispersed by a completely successful harvest, hunt, or scavenge.

It wouldn't be long before whatever crops had grown would have to be picked and taken in, and as the younger animals had learned last year, it was necessary to stuff themselves with food before this happened, no matter the cost.

Above a field of such crops, the lone, sleek, black bird was carrying itself delicately on uplifts of wind. Spotting a bit of food, he swooped to land on the plant and gobble what he could. It was the third time he'd found food in this field this year, and he worried that there would soon be nothing left in this field for him to eat.

Unfortunately, this wouldn't even begin to have a chance to pose a problem.

A net, from what seemed like thin air, came swooping down upon him. With a wail, he flapped desperately to get away, but instead his wings became caught up in the strands of the net.

"I've go'it, da! The one that keeps stealin' all the food!" An ecstatic cry that only deepened the bird's panic called out, and out of one beady eye, the bird saw an older man approaching the young teen that was clinging to the net that held the bird captive.

"Finally! Ye've go' the diaval burd!" The elder man grinned a toothy smile that sent the bird into another fit of screams and flaps. A sudden, abrupt smash to the net that held him brought the bird's struggles to a halt as he tried to clear his head and ignore the pain that suddenly shot up his back.

"Give it 'ere, boy! Ye run up and 'ave dinna' with ye mum and sister, I'll take care o' this 'ere diaval burd."

The net was suddenly clasped even tighter, and though for a moment he struggled once again, there was suddenly a blinding pain in his front which abruptly stilled him. Suddenly, there was a sickly warm feeling mucking up his feathers, and he felt very ill. He decided it best to stop struggling as his cheat and stomach suddenly felt as if they were on fire.

Only a few minutes later, the feel of the area changed, and he realized himself to be inside somewhere musty.

The edges of the net were suddenly pinned down to a flat surface, providing only the smallest amount of wiggle room. From in the corner, there was a deep growl, and the bird flicked his eye in that direction to see a large dog, licking it's lips and growling menacingly. It chilled the bird more than the autumn wind.

"Le's get this ova' with, i's pas' time I ate," the bird heard the man grumble, and then something terrifyingly sharp and shiny flashed in what little light shone around, and the bird suddenly squawked, terrified, and scrambled from the downward arc of the sharp thing.

Pain exploded in the side of his head, and the bird screamed and flipped over and away from the attack.

Moments later, pain exploded in the other side of his face, and he panted for air against the sudden need for his lungs to collapse. Whatever that warm sticky stuff was, it was coating his sleek black wings, and he felt as if he were drowning in it.

Something suddenly had a hold around his neck and his eyes rolled as he felt something carving into it. He wasn't sure what happened then, for suddenly everything was dark and he was no longer fighting or screaming. Then there were voices that were far away and he couldn't understand them. There was a snarling of a dog, and he cawed softly, terrified of the noise. He was just letting himself go completely slack, when suddenly the net that kept the sticky stuff plastered to his feathers was gone. Then a small voice, soft and almost soothing, lifted him, and he did not have the strength to protest.

"Poor birdie," the voice murmured into his ear, and the next thing he was aware of was a coolness against his feathers and the sticky stuff being washed away. He must have blacked out, for after that he was suddenly in the dark, with only a candle light somewhat near him. Also, there was no longer anything sticky, nor was his pain growing worse. It seemed to have stabilised into a continuous ache all around his head, neck, chest, and stomach.

"Shh, poor bird. T'll be okay, ye'll see. Me mum is teachin' me ta heal things, and you're 'oll stitched up. Why did 'e do this to ye? Ye've been stealin' our food, but 'e shouldna 'ave left ye like that, figurin' ye'd take care o' yourself without him finishin' you! Poor birdie."

The voice was soft and somehow comforting, and the bird leaned toward it, too weak to understand his surroundings, but strong enough to have a feeling he should trust this kind, soft voice. So, he lay his head upon whatever soft thing he'd been placed upon, and slowly he went to sleep.

* * *

Time hardly seemed to pass in the room where he lay. He learned to understand that the girl with the kind voice brought sustenance and that he mustn't make noise or he might be discovered by an unpleasant older man that loomed as a danger in the back of his mind, though he couldn't quite remember why this man singled danger.

After a while, the bird was well enough to stand and walk back and forth on the surface the girl had placed him on. It was always cold, but she left a cloth which he could lay under and grow a little warmer. Partway through this time period, a new addition to his life appeared in way of a tiny person who cried when hungry and giggled when happy. The girl who cared for him often showed him this little person who she claimed was called 'My Little Sister Angie'. He learned to appreciate My Little Sister Angie as a source of entertainment, as her gurgled giggles were soft and nice to listen to, and he leaned that she would begin this happy little noise after given liquid or food, after being rocked, and after a strange procedure called 'Peek A Boo'. He learned things, such as you don't feed a baby hard food, you feed it milk and things. (That was learned when he kept flying around the carrots in hopes his caregiver would give them to My Little Sister Angie)

He learned that the family dogs were not allowed in his caregiver's room for they were dangerous for him. He wouldn't complain, for he had a strange, unpleasant memory about a dog and something bad happening.

He learned that girls were quite touchy about boys, for at one point, his caregiver had come into the room sobbing about a boy she'd liked who she'd spotted kissing some other girl. (That had been a terrible night as his caregiver spent the majority of it sobbing on her bed as the raven sat next to her and hoped she'd soon feel better. Eventually he walked up on her pillow and gently pecked at her hair, hoping this would somehow help, and in fact she gave a wet little laugh, and he hoped that would never happen again.) Apparently 'boy problems', as she'd called them, were a source of sadness.

He learned that his caregiver's parents were supposedly not so bad, at least not if you were human although he decided that, as he wasn't human, he wouldn't try to get near them. He found out they loved each other as his care giver had loved that boy. Apparently it had worked out better for the girl's parents. She said she wanted to get married and have a baby just like My Little Sister Angie, and so he learned that babies happen after one loves someone very much. To him, this seemed quite connected to 'boy problems', but he couldn't be sure considering half of what the girl said made little sense to him, and he simply enjoyed listening to the tones of her voice. He also enjoyed the seeds she sneaked out of the kitchen and placed around his flat surface so he could get fun little snacks.

Life was good, and he grew accustomed to this caring girl and My Little Sister Angie, until one day he grew so happy and accustomed that he forgot his survival techniques: never fly too much, and never make noise.

It was a freezing day, but the baby and the girl were both wrapped tightly in wool, and there was a candle providing heat for the bird.

"What a pretty bird you've become," the girl was saying as she stroked his once more sleek feathers. He shivered as his fingers ran over a raised scar that still resided on his neck, and the she quickly resumed stoking the top of his head. "Aren't you a pretty bird? Pretty bird."

Agreeing with his caregiver, he strutted back and forth proudly, suddenly forgetting the flame. That is, until he grew too near.

Suddenly he let out a squawk of shock as his wing was almost scorched, and the girl's face fell. That's when it all fell rapidly apart.

The door slammed open, and there stood the man. His frown terrified the bird, and the bird back up rapidly.

"Wha's tha' burd doin' in 'ere?" The man growled. Realisation suddenly dawned on his face, before it was replaced with a dangerous scowl. "Ye took tha' diaval burd last fall! Wha? Ye been 'idin' 'im this 'ole time?"

"Father-" the girl began, but the man stepped forward, grabbing for the bird.

With another cry, he flapped his wings and took to the air, knocking the nearby candle in his panic. The flame flickered for a moment, and then caught to the surface, which burst into a hot, red light.

"Father!" The girl screamed, and the bird zoomed from the room. He flapped desperately, looking for a way out, but there seemed to be none. Suddenly he was grabbed from behind, and the man's voice echoed in his ears.

"Ye diaval bird! Ye nearly sent this 'ouse ta the ground! Ye nearly caught the 'ole place on fire!" The man shook the bird roughly, and the bird cried out, flapping to get away. "Ye want out? I'll get ye out!"

The next thing the bird knew, he was no longer in the relative warm of the house; he was in the wind, the cold, and something awful, frozen and white he barely remembered from his first winter.

"And though I doubt ye'll ever be comin' back, if ye do, ye'll wish I never set eyes on ye! Now be gone!"

The door to the home slammed shut, and the bird watched and waited in the snow to see if his care giver would return; when she didn't, he realised that chapter of his life was over. He was on his own, but he knew not where to go. He sat there for a moment, shivering in the wind, when he heard the low growl of the family dog. This sent him into a spiral of panic and so, despite the wind, the raven took to the sky, battling against the snow and cold.

His wings hardly functioned, as he'd flown little in the last few months, and the cold was turning him to ice, and so it was not a great surprise when he felt himself falling from the sky with a weak cackle.

If it had not been for a fortunate accident, he likely would have fallen and hit the ground resulting in a presumably fatal fall. As it was, it seemed this raven had luck on his side.

He felt gentle hands enfold him, and he was brought somewhere warmer, or at least the air around him grew warmer.

After a few minutes of regaining his sense, the raven looked into the hazel eyes of his rescuer, whose thin hands danced over his wings, repairing them in a way he had not thought possible. The ice that had clung to his feathers dropped away, and slowly he found his shivering to cease.

His rescuer never said a word, but he wrote her face into some back channel of his memory. When she had finished with him, she placed him upon a branch and commanded him to stay in the tree for the remainder of the winter, and stay there he did.

Although things became blurry at some point that winter, some small remainder of his raven mind didn't forget her dark hair, delicate fingers, nor would he ever forget the hazel eyes that silently stared him down, forcing the whole experience to stay in the recesses of his mind forever.

* * *

_Present time_

Absently, I looked out the window. It's quite a while before dawn. I can continue checking through my memories. You know, I'd often wondered if my unnamed rescuer had been Maleficent. Certainly when she'd saved me from the dogs, something within me had drawn me to her. Perhaps that part of my memory had been saved.

Absently, I pulled on a chain wrapped tightly around my snout, and with my somehow heightened hearing, I heard the guards outside inhale quickly, wincing.

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_Suggestions, comment? Please, tell me what you think!_


	3. Chapter 2

**AU: **_Thanks so much for the follows and favorite, and thank you to DancingKitKat, and Europa for your reviews! _

* * *

_Present time_

You know, I liked being a raven. Life was, relatively, simple. Eat, sleep, survive. Three words to define the meaning of life, none of this "is true love real?" or "if you don't break the curse, the girl you've raised from being a baby will die" stuff.

If I could go back, I'm not sure what exactly I'd change. I'm thankful Maleficent saved me from the dogs, and I'm thankful that my life grew to have meaning, but I kinda liked not having to do anything meaningful.

Besides, in that life I don't think I'd have had to put up with being chained in a castle so that I can't move, my fate unknown and in the hands of people I wouldn't have trusted in any shape or form.

You know, it's quite uncomfortable, actually, being chained in a position unable to move. How long had it been now? More than an hour.

Aurora did come once, demanding to be let in and that I be let go, but her demands were ignored. After all, now I was but a fire breathing dragon. Aurora had been gently led away, although I had seen something almost close to fear in her eyes. I watched carefully as she left the room, the door closing firmly behind her. No one had entered the room again.

I heard my stomach growl. It must be nearing two hours since I was caught. It must have been at least eight or nine hours since I last ate.

Mistress, where are you?

* * *

_18 Years Prior_

After the winter, the raven flew away from the tree and his care giver. He found himself back to his normal, wild raven life, scavenging and stealing from unsuspecting farmers. He avoided humans when possible, although he couldn't help but find much of his food in famers' fields.

For a long while, he lived a perfectly normal life, frequently visiting the local castle and snatching food from the kitchen if the cook was forgetful and left a tray near an open window, and he frequented an abandoned castle with ruins long since inhabited by men. Sometimes he found something dead up there that, being a raven, provided food.

One such time, the raven had gone up to look and see if he could find any food in the old fortress, and he was surprised to see a human up there. At least, he assumed it was a human.

Normally he'd turn and fly quickly in the other direction, but something about the human made him pause. The human was sad.

It must have been his brief life in captivity that inspired him to land and cock his head at the sad human, wondering if he could help and, if he did, if he would receive food for his helpfulness.

Instead of allowing him to grow near, the human raised her hand and a shock of cold wind ruffled his feathers. Quickly realizing he was unwanted, he jumped back, and, with a squawk, he flew away. He could find food somewhere else.

He circled through the skies, his stomach demanding food, until he spotted a farmer's field and he allowed himself to land.

Hopping forward, his beady eyes searched for which vegetable he would chose, when suddenly his heart nearly stopped.

A net descended upon him, and he began to squawk and scream. He flapped desperately as memories of another net descending on top of him became crystal clear in his mind. The growl of a dog almost made him black out from terror, and he squawked and struggled inside the net. He was too terrified to even notice as the net seemed to shrink, until he glanced at himself and didn't see black feathers.

This shocked him so much that he paused in his struggles and watched as the last of one of his wings turned into the fingers of a man. His eyes widened, and then narrowed in confusion.

He was a man! How in the world did this happen?

He glanced up quickly as a woman looking person approached him with the smallest of smirks, or something of that sort. He blinked at her, and then spent a moment trying to figure out what was happening and absorbing the fact that he was no longer a bird. He then looked back up at the woman and suddenly found himself able to put two and two together as he never had been able to so before. It was quite remarkable, really. This woman must have been what turned him into a man! Where that thought came from, he had no idea, but he opened his mouth and was actually quite shocked to hear human speech coming out if it.

"What have you done to my beautiful self?" Was that him? Had he just spoke the tongue of humans?

"Would you rather I let them beat you to death?"

Now that was a question. Quite honestly, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now without wings. Run around as a human and steal crops? Somehow, the notion didn't quite seem to appeal to him.

"I'm not certain."

"Stop complaining. I saved your life."

He considered that for a moment. She had, hadn't she? Suddenly memories of the other times his life had been saved came shooting into his mind as no memory ever had before, and he realized what a lucky raven he was. Properly chastened, he spoke again.

"Forgive me."

"What do I call you?"

What did that mean, like a name? Like My Little Sister Angie had had a name. What was his name? He'd never been called anything except 'pretty bird' before, and he didn't think that was really his name.

Oh wait, he'd also been referred to as 'diaval bird', was that his name? Not the bird part, but the other part?

"Diaval," he decided. Again the times he'd been saved came to mind and prompted him to continue speaking. "And in return for saving my life, I am your servant... Whatever you need."

"Wings," the woman said, and he was confused. What did that mean, she wanted him to give her his wings? That notion bothered him, and she must have sensed it for she quickly continued.

"I need you to be my wings."

Suddenly he was clothed, and he glanced at himself again. How strange.

"Come," the woman beckoned him to follow her, and he hurried behind her, still puzzling over what a strange turn his life had just made. He couldn't quite figure it out, despite the amazing thinking ability he suddenly had. So, he was now a human and some woman's servant? Yes? It was all rather confusing.

"Now," she continued abruptly, and he looked up, waiting for her to continue. "You know of the castle?"

Diaval nodded.

"As I am now your mistress, I command you to go to the castle, see what is happening and then meet me at the old abandoned fortress."

Before he even had a moment to reply, he was suddenly a raven again.

He squawked with surprise, but deciding he might as well adapt to this strange new life, he flew toward the castle.

He needed to find out more about Mistress. If he'd just agrees to be someone's servant, he should know who his mistress was. Clearly she was magic, but that was all he could tell at the moment; that and she'd saved his life.

Landing on a castle window ledge, Diaval watched a man named Stephan become king. People seemed happy about this, and the new king gave a bow before retreating to his thrown. Placing this into his rapidly expanding memory, Diaval flew from the window ledge to meet Mistress.

* * *

She was waiting in the abandoned fortress as promised, and she flicked her hand which turned him into a man. He was not prepared for this, and he abruptly fell on his face with a grunt. Mistress did nothing but raise an eyebrow.

Picking himself up, Diaval dusted off his hands and spoke quickly.

"There's a man being crowned king."

"Name?"

He hesitated.

"Stefan," he suddenly remembered.

Mistress turned away, and began to pace to the over side of the fortress, Diaval watching with his head cocked for better clarity. It didn't seem to be helping as much as it had when he was a raven.

"He did this to me so he would be king."

It was a statement, but it rose questions in Diaval's head. Did what? What did he do?

Suddenly a bright green light and a scream broke the quiet.

Diaval jumped backwards, raising his arms in some instinctual protection of his head. His heart beat rapidly, his hands shaking.

Eventually, the scream disappeared, and the green light dissipated. Gradually, he lowered his arms, eyes his glued on his mistress with a mix between shock and horror. Who was this woman he'd just agreed to serve? Violent mood swings, he cataloged into his list of 'Mistress qualities'.

At least he wasn't dead, the raven in him cheered himself up.

He reminded himself that, no matter what she did, she was his caregiver, and so he fell back into his role as faithful servant.

"Now what, mistress?" He asked. However, he received no reply but the magic which turned him back into a raven.

Taking to the sky, he followed her as she walked toward the magical moors, destroying everything in her path. Once or twice he called out in shock, wondering why this was happening, but his voice only came out as a squawk. He supposed he was lucky that he was not destroyed in the process.

Eventually they reached the moors, which he barely remembered from his most recent winter, and he was confused when, as Maleficent walked, a darkness seemed to follow her. He watched from a far as a thrown of thorns suddenly grew up out of the ground, and he took a deep breath before faithfully swooping down to land on the side of her thrown. He watched as the little woodland creatures that almost reminded him of the little animals he'd, sort of, known as a raven, cowered, and then bowed as a large, terrifying root being growled before them. Obviously this root being was a model servant, already anticipating what Mistress would want. He glanced toward her to see if he should bow as well, but one of her hands came to rest on his back, petting his feathers into place, and so he simply continued to observe.

* * *

_Present Time_

The first few days had been confusing and somewhat disturbing. I hadn't really understood what was going on and, as she didn't turn me back into a human for quite some time, I was unable to ask. Instead, I was stuck in my raven body, watching as the moors changed, and the creatures along with it. True, I didn't know the back story of Maleficent or the moors yet (she was not to tell me that until after I was again human) but I knew something had changed, and that the small creatures didn't like it. Their expressions of sorrow betrayed them. Maleficent's expression was indifferent, and cold.

She spoke little to me in that time, but I could tell she didn't want me to leave. She was almost constantly stroking my feathers and wings, and after a while, I became accustomed to it.

I had no reason to want to change back into a human, except to know why the little creatures cowered when she called herself queen. I was perfectly happy in my shape. I was happy just being a raven.

I wish I was a raven right now.

Apparently even wings cannot get me free of these chains, but as a raven, at least I might feel more natural. After all, despite my inner need to help the caregiver, in those first few weeks with Maleficent, I'd felt almost chained into a new life.

Now I would give anything to go back to that life.

Mistress, where are you?

* * *

**AU: ** _So, that's all I've written so far_. _Normally I don't think my updates will *ever* be so close to each other, but I already had most of this chapter written, so I touched it up and here it is. Further chapters will be in between the movie times, so I'm not just following the movie story line, but tell me: What do you want to see from this story? Hurt/comfort, romance or no, interaction between various characters that don't interact in the movie as much? I have a story line set up, but it'd be cool to see what you readers would like. :) _


	4. Chapter 3

_Thank you for all of your follows, and thank you to DancingKitKat, blackbloodywolf and Durin'sFolk for your reviews! _

* * *

_18 Years Prior_

For about 2 days, it almost seemed as if his life had gone back to being more normal, as he wasn't turned back into a man and instead simply sat as a bird next to Mistress on her throne. Then, Maleficent decided it was time that he begin regularly looking in on castle life. In order for him to tell her what he saw, she had to turn him into a man, and from there, she decided that it was time he learn more about how to be a man so that, if he was ever to go into the world as a man, he wouldn't still be acting like a bird.

It was a sunny day, after he landed next to her on the stone near her feet, that she made the decision. She transformed him, and he told her of the castle life, and then she decided it was time he learn some simple things about being human.

He spoke quickly about the king's new laws, and then waited patiently for her to turn him back into his preferred raven self. When she didn't, he cocked his head to the side, confused.

He watched as she examined her nails, until finally he cleared his throat loudly, wondering if somehow she'd forgotten that was still a man.

Maleficent glanced at Diaval, her expression bored. After a moment she asked, "Yes? Something you need?"

"Well, mistress, I was just waiting to become myself again."

"You are yourself, you are not?"

"I mean my raven self, mistress."

"It's a warm, sunny day. Enjoy it as a man, for once. Go explore on foot."

Diaval nodded once, slightly confused, and then he made to walk toward the stream. He stumbled, however, and she raised an eyebrow.

He tried once again, and she wondered at how his movements were strangely raven-like. He almost hopped instead of striding like a man. After a moment, she cleared her own throat.

"A problem?" She asked smoothly.

"I'm just not used to these long legs, mistress," Diaval blushed.

"You'll get used to them," Maleficent shrugged, and then she pretended to turn her attention away from her servant. It surprised him when it didn't take very long at all to get used to them, and he wandered over to the stream's edge. He sat beside it, allowing his hands to touch the water and trace patterns across it's unbroken surface, smiling as a water fairy flew by. The water fairy returned the gesture, before spotting Maleficent and quickly moving along.

Maleficent watched him silently, following him with her eyes as he stood and went over to a tree, sitting beneath its shade. He closed his eyes running his fingers through the grass as if in wonder of what new sensations of touch fingers brought.

That night, Diaval curled up underneath the tree, as he was sure he was to big to sleep in it as a man, and in the morning he waited for mistress to turn him into a bird so he could check on the castle. When she didn't, he continued to explore the valley, attempting to interact with the pixies and creatures who seemed a bit uneasy of him, perhaps because he was Maleficent's right hand man.

By the third day, he grew frustrated with his appearance.

Maleficent never saw him return to the tree that third night, and so she causally went looking for him. She found him crouched next to the stream, staring at his reflection.

Growing closer, she worried that he was growing sad because he missed his wings, and she decided to turn him back into a bird as long as he came back to her throne with her. He'd learned to walk about more normally, and one of the pixies had showed him about using his hands to pick berries to eat; he'd become at least slightly more used to being a man.

Sensing her behind him, Diaval turned with a sigh. Then, he surprised her with his next words.

"Mistress," he asked, "As a bird, I preened myself. What am I supposed to do now?"

Her readied hand dropped to her side, and Maleficent's magic words died on her tongue.

"Are you alright?" Diaval asked, and she nodded quickly.

"Of course," she snapped, "And you bathe yourself, have you never thought of that?"

"In the water?" He sounded shocked by the very idea, and Maleficent refrained from rolling her eyes. Instead, she simply gave a single nod.

"Birds don't go into water! At least not deep water! At least not my type of bird!"

"Right now, you are not a bird, you are a man."

He looked at the water uneasily before sighing.

"Yes mistress," he obediently breathed, though she could sense his nerves steadily building.

Slowly, he turned his back and began to trudge toward the water, jumpy, but with a calm facade.

"I liked preening," he mumbled, when suddenly he glanced at himself to see not a man, but the feathers of a bird. His face lit up, and he flew into the air, cawing happily at Maleficent. She watched his joyous celebration with little to no emotion, but after he started happily preening, she allowed herself a tiny smile.

"Bird brain," she found herself smirking, before she turned and made her way back to her throne.

Diaval's love of the moors grew with each flight he took in the air, and each walk he took around the lake. He found himself joking and having a good time with the little creatures who tossed mud about as they were the only creatures that would interact with him, and he was amazed to find himself making a strange barking noise when he was happy. He learned from mistress that this was called laughter, and that humans did it when they were having a good time. He was still cautious around mistress, however. He didn't laugh in front of her.

More than once he'd seen her anger explode due to an action performed by a moor creature on a bad day, and occasionally she took her anger out after he told her things about castle life.

He sometimes watched her sit on her throne, still as stone, from a nearby tree where the remains of an almost human sized nest still sat, tucked amongst the branches.

He'd watched as three little pixies flew up and begged Mistress to admit about 'what had happened'. They also begged her to lose her tittle as queen. He watched as they asked her to revoke the darkness in the moors and one day, he watched they said something that fairly made his heart stop.

"Maleficent," he'd learned that was Mistress's other name, though he'd never mentioned to her that he knew that, "Please at least tell us one thing!"

"Yes yes! What happened to your wings!"

_Her wings?_

"That is not your concern!" Mistress suddenly bellowed, and the three little pixies rushed to get in back of each other.

Diaval didn't wait to hear the rest of the conversation, he took to the sky, his mind doing flips.

Wings? She'd had wings?

_I need you to be my wings_, she'd said. Had she once had wings? What had happened? How could someone lose their wings? He shivered.

How could someone _stand_ to lose their wings? _How could someone lose their wings?_

The questions made him feel sick, and he landed beside a bed of flowers. How could someone lose their wings?

That night, Maleficent turned him back into a man. He must have spent a moment too long staring at her, for she raised an eye brow and asked, "What is it, Diaval?"

"How could someone lose their wings?"

His question was no more loud than a whisper, not even directed at her but to the night air, yet her face hardened and he took a quick step backward.

"Have I ever asked you how you got your scars?" She demanded, and his face paled.

"No mistress," he shook his head.

"Then why would you ask me how I lost my wings?" Her voice was so full of rage that Diaval raised his hands in front of his face, just as he had that first time he'd met her.

After a moment of silence, Diaval peeked out from behind one arm. Mistress's face was now full of anguish.

"Mistress?" he croaked.

She looked up, her face losing it's emotion, and he barely heard her clear her throat.

"Perhaps someday I will tell you; leave me now."

"Mistress?" He asked again, his face torn.

"Leave me!" She demanded, and in a moment he was again a raven. Sadly, he took to the skies, and he promised that he would not ask her again. Perhaps one day she would tell him on her own.

Diaval flew to the castle that night, and he watched the goings on for a quite a while. There was not much happening, except the occasional changing of the guards.

Once, 'Stefan' took a walk around, surveying the castle, and Diaval wondered why Mistress had been so distraught when he was crowned king. He wondered why Mistress had muttered quietly on that day he'd told her of the king's coronation.

Then, something struck him.

"_He did this to me, so he would be king_." That's what she'd said. She couldn't have meant...

He shivered, could she have been referring to her wings?

He didn't get home until late that night, but Maleficent was sitting upon her throne and she again turned him human. Diaval spent a long time wandering the moors, not yet tired and with thoughts swirling in his head.

Eventually he returned to his favorite tree to find Maleficent still awake and watching the stars in the sky.

"You know," he said after standing in the shadows for several moments, "I'm here if you need me for anything; anything at all! That isn't limited to being your wings, you know."

Maleficent didn't look at him, but her posture changed in the slightest, and he was sure she'd heard him. With a sigh, he turned to go sit under the tree and try to sleep, but her voice stopped him.

"Diaval, how old are you?" she asked abruptly, and he turned back to face her.

"Old?"

"Yes, what is your age?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know how old you are, how many years you've lived?"

"Well, I've seen two winters now."

"You're two years old?"

"I suppose so."

"You're not two years old."

"Oh, well then I don't know how old I am. How many times does winter happen?"

"Once a year."

"Then I'm two years old."

Maleficent sighed, tapping her finger's on her throne before speaking again.

"In human years, you are not two years old."

"Maybe not, but that's my age, apparently."

Maleficent sighed again, "Obviously, you're two raven years old."

Diaval shrugged.

"I'll not require you right now, go to sleep."

"Yes mistress."

She followed him with her eyes, watching as, eventually, he settled beside the stream, leaning against a tree and peacefully closing his eyes.

Then, greenish brown magic swirled about her fingers before she sent it dancing toward the man-bird. It encircled his head, but disappeared before he had a chance to react or notice.

Nodding to herself, Maleficent gave the smallest of smiles.

"Now you shall age as a man, or perhaps even as a fairy."

* * *

_Present Time_

I hadn't realized at the time about not aging as I had before. In fact had been for several years before I started finding it odd that I wasn't a very old raven. Even then, Maleficent hadn't told me exactly what had happened, but I'd been able to infer an approximation of why I wasn't aging normally. I distantly wondered how long dragons lived and wondered if I'd still age as I had before.

There was a sound out in the hall, and my eyes shot over to the door. My stomach was now growling loudly; perhaps the guards had noticed?

Indeed, one of the guards did peek into the room. I growled, trying to convey my need for food, and I heard the guard ask his friend if they should do something about my condition.

"I don't know," the other guard shrugged. "I'd assume he needs meat."

"Yeah, and we're meat," the first guard shivered, and I sighed. What ignorance; I wasn't really a dragon-monster. I just needed food, real food, not guard food or some such thing.

"He's chained up, what can he do," the second guard said quite causally, "Come on back. We have orders to guard the room, not feed the beast."

I frowned deeply as the door closed and I was again left alone in the room.

* * *

**AU: **_Hello again! What do you think? Feedback really helps me know what is good and what I should change. Review please :)_


	5. Chapter 4

Thank you to **DancingKitKat, blackbloodywolf, DurinsFolk, Pawliin3, **and** FictionisMyReality12** for your lovely reviews! I'm sorry this chapter was long in coming, but I've been quite busy. I'll start work on the next one right away! Also, this chapter has a lot of stuff from the movie, because I have a feeling that there wasn't a lot of interaction between Diaval and Maleficent in the early time period based on how he treats her. In the future, there will be many more OSs (own stories) :-)

* * *

For the next year, Diaval spent little time talking to Maleficent. He was often kept in man form, and yet instead of spending masses of time with her, he spent a lot of time wandering. He even dared wander out of the wood once or twice, though never very far and only to look at the castle from a distance.

Maleficent turned him into a raven, still, in order for him to check on castle life, and he was surprised that after he told her about the king and queen, she often looked sad. He never asked her about it, though, because he didn't want to upset her.

One day, as he wandered the valley, he heard a noise behind him, and he turned to see Maleficent standing there, watching him with a silent, unbroken gaze.

"Something you need, Mistress?" He asked.

She hesitated, before nodding.

"Yes, Diaval. Come here. Come, sit with me."

He obeyed quickly, going to sit by her side. She was silent for some time, before she took a deep breath.

"You once asked me what happened to my wings," she turned to look at him, "And I have decided to give you a short idea of why I have you look into see the king. It is because I cannot. You see, once many years ago, we knew each other quite well, the king and I. It was before he was king. He wandered toward the moors, and I would meet him. We spent much time together."

"Like you and I?" Diaval asked.

"More than you and I," Maleficent replied, "We spent so much time together that I came to trust him. When he came one night to talk to me once more, I trusted him. That night I lost my wings."

Diaval was silent.

"Trust is a dangerous thing, Diaval. Don't trust."

"You can trust me," Diaval told Maleficent, "You can!"

"You know," she looked into Diaval's dark eyes, "Perhaps. Perhaps I can."

After that, they spent more time together, and Diaval had a strange feeling that he knew what Maleficent had felt for Stefan. She had felt love, and he had taken her wings.

Memories of a farm house and another girl who'd lost her love came back, and he decided to comfort Maleficent as he had comforted that other girl. He'd never learned her name, he suddenly realized.

The valley suddenly became a little brighter as Diaval and Maleficent walked its valley and by the ponds.

Sometimes she watched him turn into a raven, and he soared through the skies as she smiled up at him.

One day as they walked, no magical creatures in sight, Diaval landed in the mud and it got on his feathers. He had a playful idea and he gathered some in his talons. He flew into the air, and when Maleficent wasn't looking, he flung it her way.

Unfortunately, she looked at the last moment and with a flick of her fingers, flung it back toward him. He dodged it in time, and when she turned him human, he gave her a questioning look, which he returned with a smirk.

The two of them continued walking, and whenever they were sure other creatures were not nearby, each would try to fling mud at the other. That was the first day Diaval found himself laughing with Mistress.

And then came the days when Diaval flew to the palace, and everything changed.

* * *

_16 Years Prior_

The maids were all a twitter about a girl, and it took him a moment to figure out what it was they were talking about. Then, his heart dropped. It was with wings that felt like stone that he traveled on currents back toward Mistress. When he landed, his eyes were both soft and terribly worried, for he'd worked it out.

She had a new routine of changing him back while still in flight, now, and much to his chagrin he almost fell over with a cry. He caught himself, though, and his heart dropped even more as Mistress eyed him with something close to amusement. She had been in a good mood.

"Well?" she asked after a moment.

"Well I saw nothing, but, well, there's been a um," he stumbled over his words, how was he to tell her. He had to tell her, but how?

"What?" she demanded. She knew something was wrong, Diaval could tell. He didn't want to continue. He _really _didn't. He remembered what he'd learned. Maleficent had loved Stafan. And from his caregiver so many years ago, he learned that children come when two people love each other very much. What would happen when he told Mistress the news? Her face was hard, however, so he took a breath and continued.

"Child. King Stefan and the queen have had a child."

He watched her carefully. What would she do? Would the green magic come shooting from her fingers in anger? When she sob like his caregiver so many years ago?

Instead, she was exaggeratedly calm.

"Oh," she stated.

The calm made him more upset, he wanted to just fly away and never tell her bad news again.

"There'll be a christening," he took another deep breath, "They say it's to be a grand celebration."

He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to reach out and tell her it'd be alright, yet something in her eyes frightened him into simply standing there, watching her sadly. How he wanted to help.

"A grand celebration for a baby," her voice was smooth. "How wonderful."

It was not wonderful, he knew well enough that it was not wonderful, and yet he was suddenly powerless to do anything except ask, "Oh?"

"We will be attending," she explained with less emotion than he had ever seen her have in any of his memories.

"I'm not sure we're invited," he said, though he felt foolish pointing that out.

"That's alright," her voice was still quite smooth. "We won't need an invitation to get past the guards. You shall see."

Her voice was growing harder, and some internal instinct told him to get out of there, and yet he felt rooted to the spot.

"What will we do there?" he asked, "What does one do at a christening?"

"One simply goes to observe, and observe we will. Go, Diaval, I must think, but be back by the day's end. Don't wander too far."

Moments later he was a raven, sitting on the ground and staring up at her. He watched her silently, worry clouding his mind.

"Go, Diaval," she commanded, and he went, casting a backwards glance at his mistress. Something would go wrong, something bad was going to happen, yet he didn't know what it was, and he knew that he should and could do nothing to stop it.

* * *

Soon, the christening had arrived, and Diaval was still clueless about what he and Mistress was to do there. She turned him into a raven and told him he was to be good and to follow each of her movements precisely. Then, after listening to horns and trumpets blow loud music at the castle, Maleficent swept away, coming back to Dival not much later, but looking completely different. He squawked, shocked by her new dark apparel unlike anything he'd ever seen her wear.

"Come, Diaval," was all she said.

They made their way toward the castle, and Diaval found the roads to be empty. Everyone was somewhere, perhaps at the castle, or perhaps in homes celebrating in their own ways.

Eventually, Maleficent was at the castle doors, and though Diaval balked at going inside, he followed her in. They waited and listened as the celebration went on, and then Maleficent turned to Diaval, an glint in her eye nothing short of evil.

"Come," she repeated, and he flew after her.

The moment she entered the room, the celebration ceased to happen. People's faces dropped, and the king was white as a sheet.

Diaval glimpsed the little pixies that used to talk to Maleficent and ask what happened to her wings. Something had happened between the pixies and Maleficent, obviously, for they looked terrified of her now. In fact, they looked downright horrified as they flew protectively in front of the baby. Maleficent flicked her hand however, and the pixies were suddenly locked inside a large box.

There was fear radiating in the room. Diaval could sense it. It made him want to take flight, but instead he landed near Maleficent, following her order to play along.

She talked to the king, her voice smooth and almost hurt when she talked about not receiving an invitation to the christening. She must have sensed his unease, for she pet him smoothly, slightly helping his rumpled nerves. He thanked her with a crow.

When asked about being offended, she claimed she was not, and this both worried and confused Diaval; of course she was offended, wasn't she?

"And to show I bear no ill will, I too shall bestow a gift on the child," Maleficent declared, and Diaval's breath froze.

What did she mean? What did she plan to do, exactly? He turned to look at her, cocking his head to the side, but her eyes simply glared into his, and he realized what she wanted.

With a bit of worry, he went to settle on the cradle of the girl who suddenly reminded him of My Little Sister Angie. Maleficent followed, examining the child, and then she spoke in a soft, smooth voice.

"Listen well, all of you. The princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, loved by all who know her," Maleficent began, and Diaval's sense of dread grew. That was not all.

"But before the sun sets on her 16th birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep-like death. A sleep from which she will never awaken."

Diaval stared at the little girl; why? Why do this? Why was Mistress doing this? He was confused, and slightly hurt. Why would his Mistress do this? _Her wings_ something inside of him squirmed to the top _she does this for her wings._

The king begged for her to take the curse away, to let his daughter be alright, and Maleficent told him to beg, and so he did.

Diaval was almost surprised that when Maleficent said that the child could be awoken, that he felt a sense of relief. This child meant nothing to him, and yet she did bring back memories of sweet little My Little Sister Angie. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when Maleficent's voice cut through the air, saying that this curse would last until the end of time, and then the green magic shot from her fingers, wind rushing about the palace and cutting through the air like a knife.

Maleficent stormed from the room as the people around her cried out, and Diaval was quick to follow.

_Why? _Something inside him still cried out for the injustice of putting a curse on a child.

_For her wings_ something else inside him replied, and he cawed loudly as he flew from the room

* * *

_Present time_

And now I am back in the palace. Back in the same room, in fact, where the curse had been created. How much had happened since that time. How much my life and the lives of those I know have changed. If I could go back and make it not happen, perhaps I would, but then I would never have known Aurora, the sweet blonde haired girl who allowed me to care for her and bring joy to my life.

The same girl who cannot save him now; perhaps only Mistress could do that? She will come, I know she will come.

* * *

**AU: **_Make an author smile with a review? :) Also, a continued thanks the follows and favorites!_


	6. Chapter 5

**AU: **_Okay, so thank you so much for all the reviews on the last chapter! It was amazing. Anyway, thank you to **blackbloodywolf, DancingKitKat, FictionisMyReality12, Bookwyrm52, Panthermonspartner, Durin'sFolk, **and** Izzabela**_

_Also, thanks to Bookwyrm52 for the idea. I had something like that rattling around me idea list, but your idea helped :-) _

* * *

_Present time_

Mistress was stalwart and angry for quite a while after that, and I took it upon myself to see what happened to this child that Maleficent had cursed. I remember flying to this castle, but was surprised when I found that the three little pixies were taking the baby from her home. I had listened in to their conversation to learn that the king had instructed them to take care of the baby until she was 16, and they were to travel to a remote cottage where they decided to dress up as peasant women as a so called disguise, though I thought they still looked a little mystical, especially with the blue hair.

I remember watching as the three pixies, turned 'peasant women', ran about and eventually ended up in the cottage, leaving the crying Aurora outside. I'd frowned as well as a raven can frown, and I flew down to her side, glancing at her and wondering if I could cheer her up. I was thinking when I heard one of the pixies come running back outside to grab the baby, and so I flew up into the trees to watch the proceedings.

I had no way of knowing that such a tiny baby would end up making such an impact on my life. If it wasn't for her, I'd never be in this situation, but I also would not have been as happy. I think sometimes you must realize happiness comes with sadness... But no matter, Aurora is still trying to help! She was trying to sneak in here a few minutes ago. She got caught, but at least she's trying!

On with my story.

* * *

_15 years ago_

The pixies paid little attention to the child. When she again started crying, they spent a while jumping up and down in front of her before giving up and going off to try and fail at cooking.

With a sigh, Diaval decided he needed to help. She might be cursed, but Diaval somehow wanted to help take care of this little girl. She reminded him far too much of that other little girl so many years ago. He took flight, eventually arriving back at the moors where he found Maleficent still in her throne. He hovered around her until she finally flicked some magic at him and turned him human.

"Mistress," he caught his breath from his quickened flight, "The baby, Aurora, is not getting any care."

"Oh?"

"She gotten taken away by those three pixies and they are supposed to take care of her, but they don't know anything about taking care of her. I think you should come see."

"Why?"

Diaval hesitated and then said, "Well, Mistress, you do want her to be around for the curse, and they don't seem to know anything about babies."

Maleficent sighed, flicking magic at Diaval and turning him back into a raven. He tilted his head in confusion, and Maleficent nodded for him to follow her.

"Come Diaval," she said, and he cawed happily, showing her the way to the cottage.

When they arrived, Diaval glanced down at the baby, who slowly stopped crying and began observing these new arrivals.

Instead of helping the baby, however, Maleficent threw several insults at it and then turned to walk away. Diaval was confused, wasn't the point of this visit to help the baby? He paused a moment longer, cawing and wondering if Maleficent would return, and when she didn't, he flew after her to find her standing just inside the tree cover. He cawed again in confusion, and Maleficent sighed.

"If you really want, we shall stay here until tomorrow and see what happens to the little beastie. Does that make you happy?"

Diaval nodded adamantly, and Maleficent held back a slight smile at the raven's enthusiasm. She then went to find a place to sit for the night, and Diaval flew up into a tree, watching the cottage with his observant, raven eyes.

* * *

In the morning, the pixies took the baby outside where they were playing in the dirt and Diaval briefly wondered if they were trying to garden, but he decided against that idea. Surely not.

He flew and landed on a branch even closer, wincing at the baby's loud cries. The pixies debated the idea that she was hungry, and one of them gave her some carrots, to which Diaval shook his head. Even he knew not to give a baby carrots; he'd learned that from his first caregiver!

He flew back to Maleficent, flapping around until she finally consented and turned him into a man.

"What's all that infernal crying?" she demanded, and he told her that the child was hungry.

"So?" she asked.

"They don't know what to feed her. They tried to give her carrots, and she needs milk or something," he told Mistress.

"Well, go watch and see if they ever give her that, then come back."

They never gave her that, and so when he returned, Mistress consented to helping to feed the baby.

"Tonight," Maleficent told Diaval, "I will give your something to carry milk in and, if you must, you can feed the little beastie."

True to her word, that night Maleficent provided Diaval with a strange little flower which she said milk would come out of. Diaval found an open window and it wasn't hard to find the crying baby. He landed on the side of her crib, gently giving her the milk flower. She stared up at him with big, slightly worried eyes, and so he did something he remembered from long, long ago. He rocked her crib, and indeed this seemed to sooth the baby. She almost smiled at him, and then she did smile and it made him smile, as much as a raven can smile.

'I'm going to take care of this baby,' he decided. She wasn't just another My Little Sister Angie, she was her own little person, but he wanted to take care of her, since those pixies obviously were incompetent.

That night, he told Maleficent of his ambitions, to which she actually chuckled, confusing Diaval.

"Alright, you can take care of the beastie if you really want to," Maleficent told him, and Diaval nodded.

"Thank you, Mistress," he declared, and then he was again turned into a bird. He settled into a tree that night, happy that he had found a such a place in the world.

* * *

The next morning, Diaval was again turned man and he asked if they could go check on the baby again. Maleficent nodded, and yet she didn't turn him into a raven which confused him. Instead she simply led him to a hill overlooking the cottage where she found entertainment in bothering the pixies inside the house. Perhaps this was in retaliation for Diaval's decision to help them with the child or in retaliation for him wanting to check on the child, but either way he didn't truly understand the meaning of this.

Maleficent laughed lightly and chucked as angry screams came floating from the cottage, and Diaval frowned. Why was she doing this?

"Oh come on, that's funny," Maleficent chuckled to Diaval, who only frowned the harder. That wasn't funny, that was cruel, but it wasn't his place to speak up, and so he remained silent.

After that, Maleficent decided to go back and check on the moors. They walked together, careful to stay out of sight of the village. At one point however, the tree cover was quite thin.

Maleficent seemed to be debating about turning him into a raven for safely, but he saved her the effort by dashing ahead as a man, hurrying for the moors. Maleficent shook her head gently, but then followed the hurrying dark haired man. Neither noticed the guard that slipped away behind a tree.

The next day, and the days following, Maleficent and Diaval again traveled to the cottage, spending two days there each time. It became a pattern that, on the second morning, they would return home.

"Come, Diaval, we haven't been home for quite a while and it's time to see how it's all doing," she would say.

"We haven't been home for quite a while," Diaval this time nodded in agreement. Suddenly, his stomach rumbled, and Maleficent nodded in understanding.

"I'll arrange for some more corn to grow when we get back, but you can wait that long."

Diaval nodded, though he was quite hungry, and then he was again a raven. He flew high above the treetops, relishing the freedom wings brought him. He flew out over the village on the way to the moors, and while there he was surprised to see the town square fairly abandoned. It was clear, however, that the square was set up for a party or celebration of some sort. There were banners hanging about, and there were tables lined with food. Both deserts and vegetables filled the tables, and Diaval's stomach rumbled once again.

He surveyed the scene for another moment before deciding that, indeed, the scene was clear and he swooped down lower. He'd just take a single something, only enough to fill his stomach and not enough to be missed.

He glanced around once more, and then landed on one of the tables. He bent his head toward the corn, snatching a small bit in his beak and he was prepared to take flight once again, when suddenly there was a net that came cascading from behind him.

Diaval struggled fruitlessly his breath catching in his throat as he squawked and cawed.

"There, we've got the raven! Now we can take it to his highness!" one man from somewhere chuckled, and another shook his head.

"This is ridiculous. We caught _a_ raven, who's to know if it's _the_ raven?"

"Well, if it turns into a man, we know we got the right one!"

"Absolutely ridiculous," the first man walked away, and Diaval struggled helplessly, terrified. He couldn't turn into a man if he wanted to. Where was Maleficent?

People were emerging from many of the cottages now, and Diaval twisted and turned inside the net, desperate to get away from the growing crowd.

"Well, come on, let's take it to the palace," the first man spoke again, "Let's get our reward."

"Why's he even want the measly raven?" the second man questioned, "What's a raven going to do?"

"The king said a guard saw a man walking with Maleficent, and a man can do something!"

"What's he suggesting, the man and the raven are one and the same? Ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous!" a voice Diaval recognized all too well spoke up, and he froze in terror. The same farmer whose dogs had just about killed him the day Diaval first met Maleficent walked into his view, and Diaval shrank back as best he could.

"I caught a raven once, and it turned into a man before my eyes! It's a demon I tell you, that's why it can change!"

"Sure, Smithers."

"It is, it's a demon bird!"

The farmer, Smithers, grabbed the net and shook it violently causing further squawking and cawing.

"Whatever it is, there's a reward worth more than this whole town on this bird's head."

"_A _bird, not necessarily _this _bird."

"Whatever, it's a raven and I'm bringing it to the king!"

Diaval screamed against all this, the net making him extremely claustrophobic and bringing up many unwanted memories. He suddenly felt himself zooming through the air, the net still clutched tightly, yet out of the corner of his eye he could see the forest. He could also see a shape zigzagging through the trees after him, and that shape had horns.

* * *

**AU: **_Cliffhanger! Please review, they do mean a lot :)  
_


	7. Chapter 6

_Thank you to __**blackbloodywolf, DancingKitKat, Oscarg936, EmberskyofShadowclan, Pawliin3, Guest, the Goldensun, and RolledUpinOne **for your amazing reviews! They mean a lot :)_

_Also **FanofRandomThings** is now helping with this fic, so thanks for your ideas fan!_

* * *

"Your highness, there's a peasant at the door. He claims to have something for you, your highness."

"Being what?"

"A bird, your highness."

From upon his grand throne, the king finally turned his head to acknowledge the messenger.

"A bird?" The king's voice was colored with skepticism.

"A raven."

"A raven. Yes, you may allow him in."

The messenger bowed deeply before scurrying away. Moments later, a bedraggled peasant shadowed by several guards was escorted into the room. In his arms was a black bundle which, with a better look, Stefan realized was a net containing a large raven.

"Your highness," the peasant appeared prompt enough to show proper courtesy to his king, "I've caught the bird with the award on its head!"

"Yes," the king nodded, a glint of something wild and foreign shining in his eyes. "Bring it closer."

The peasant hurried closer and the king began to lift the net, yet the peasant gulped.

"Your highness, he's been whipping around and he's libel to escape..."

The king's eyes flashed for a moment after being questioned, but then he nodded.

"Get the stand," he turned to one of the guards who rushed to set up a bird stand. The guard clipped a little wooden ring around the raven's ankle and then pulled back the net. Immediately the bird tried to take flight, squawking and flapping desperately as he felt himself unable to fly away.

"Guards, you may leave the room and I will deliver the reward once I am sure this is the correct bird."

The guards hesitated, but then everyone filed from the room, leaving Stefan with the raven.

"Now," the king stood grandly and paced toward the frightened raven. "You are Maleficent's little pet. I wonder where she got you from, I'd never even heard she had a pet before the christening. Then she showed up with you; I never thought she seemed like the animal type. Then again, I've heard something strange from one of my soldiers. He said he saw a dark haired man traveling with Maleficent. I told him surely you are not connected by some sort of dark magic, but I have been told, over the years, that I am curious. Perhaps this once my curiosity got the better of me.

"So, my fine feathered friend, now is the moment of truth. Are you simply a bird, or is there something more to you?"

Stefan paced closer, reaching out a hand to the bird, but it snapped its beak, almost catching Stefan's fingers in the beak. Immediately, Stefan's eyes darkened. He pulled his hand back, and then he glared at the raven.

"Well," Stefan began as he circled the raven, causing the bird's nerves to grow even more shaky. "If that is how you're going to be, perhaps you understand what I am saying? In that case, tell me, what does Maleficent plan to do about my baby daughter? She is safe from that evil fairy's clutches, what does Maleficent plan now? Does she want to search and hunt down the child? Does she find placing curses upon helpless children entertaining?"

The raven made no sign that he'd understood a thing the king had said, and so he paused behind the helpless bird.

"Perhaps," the king continued, "You don't understand what I am saying because you are a perfectly normal bird. In that case, I could do well with having a bird that once Maleficent once had. Those other wings I took from her was an unfortunate side effect of becoming king, but now she has taken the life of my daughter! Perhaps her second set of wings needs taken as well?"

The raven suddenly started as the king's hand came to rest of his feathers, and the bird squawked angrily. It twisted and squirmed, but its ankle cuff dutifully kept the bird in place.

"Yes, I could do well keeping another prize from that Maleficent."

The king began pacing around the raven, but he forgot to remove his hand. With a vicious snap, the raven clamped the king's hand in its beak. The king snarled and yanked his hand away, and then glared again at the raven. He looked about ready to hit the raven, when the door to the hall slammed open.

He looked up quickly to see Maleficent outlined in the door frame. For a moment the king showed fear in his posture and wide eyes, but then then he steeled his jaw and stood protectively in front of the raven.

"How did you get in here?" He growled, and Maleficent scoffed.

"It isn't hard to figure out," she replied.

"Well," Stefan cleared his throat, "That may be, but I think you've come up against a wall. What have you come for, your pet?"

Diaval squeaked angrily, and now Maleficent's eyes flashed. For a moment, Stefan appeared hesitant, and then he again set his jaw.

"If that's true, then you are at a disadvantage, for I have the bird," Stefan grabbed the bird's perch and tugged it back toward his throne.

Maleficent eyed Diaval impassively, then turned to Stefan, her eyes cold.

"If you believe you have me at a disadvantage, you are sadly mistaken."

Maleficent flicked his magic, and it shot toward Diaval. The wooden cuff on his angle began to expand and change, and Diaval flapped wildly to get away. Unfortunately, Stefan grabbed the bird before he could get far and, though the bird struggled, Stefan yanked the bird back toward the perch. Diaval cawed and squawked, flapping his wings wildly, but he could not get away.

Maleficent watched the fight with narrowed eyes, and then she flicked some more magic toward Diaval; moments later Stefan grunted as the weight of a man crushed him to the ground. Diaval winced as he fell, but then he scrambled backwards in an attempt to get away from the king. Stefan stopped fighting and stared, wonder filling his gaze.

"So," he stated, "It is true. There is more to you than what it seems."

Diaval continued to back up toward Maleficent, wincing again as the king stood and shook his head with wonder.

"Replacing me so fast?" Stefan said with something mock tinting his voice, and Maleficent again narrowed. She was prepared to turn Diaval back into a bird so he could fly away from that awful palace, when suddenly Stefan loudly called his guards. Maleficent smirked narrowly, about to remark that she had taken his guards temporarily out of commission, when more guards from another room rushed inside, balking at the sight of Maleficent.

"Well, get them you fools!" Stefan roared, and the guards raced for Diaval, rather than face the apparently magical, evil fairy. The soldier effectively surrounded Diaval, blocking Maleficent's view and thus her ability to change his form. From behind the mass of guards, Diaval let out a yelp and Maleficent frowned as she could, just barely, see Diaval's hands chained tightly behind his back. The soliders stood back, watching Maleficent with obvious hesitation.

She sneered at them and, with a flick of her magic, she began to change Diaval back into a raven, but another sudden yelp brought her to a halt. As Diaval changed, the iron handcuffs did not, effectively twisting his wings into an increasingly dangerous position. Rapidly, she tossed her magic at the raven/man again, and he remained a man, panting and watching her with wide, worried eyes.

"Well," Stefan breathed, deeming the situation safe enough for him to step toward Diaval, "It looks as if we are at an impasse, Maleficent. Of course, you are welcome to trade the life of this, er, bird creature for that of my daughter; if you revoke the curse, I will let him go. If not..." Stefan circled Diaval again, and Diaval watched the king with worried eyes and shortened breath.

"Can he turn into other things? That would be most interesting to find out," Stefan spoke slowly, but he strayed to near in his pacing and, as if on instinctive impulse, Diaval snapped at him once again. Stefan's expression got still more angry and with a flick of his wrist, he singled a solider to rapidly followed the command and then hit Diaval who gasped for breath while another held onto the handcuffs in order to keep him from falling to the ground.

"You will treat you king with respect," Stefan growled at Diaval, who lifted his head to look at Maleficent with wide pleading eyes.

"You are no king of ours," Maleficent replied, and suddenly a green magic swept the entirety of the courtroom, knocking both soldiers and king to the ground. Another wind knocked Diaval forward, and immediately he understood.

_Run, _was her silent command, _run Diaval, _and run he did. He gasped for breath and he hurried after her and away from the scene, and the two of them did not stop running until they arrived at the moors, leaving the castle far behind.

When they were finally away from the castle, Diaval collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath and yanking uselessly on the iron handcuffs. Maleficent stepped closer, and he shuddered.

"Help," he asked quietly, "Please get them off!"

Maleficent appeared uneasy, yet she approached him and he turned to allow her to look at the iron handcuffs.

"How did you end up there?" Maleficent asked as she examined them from afar, but Diaval was hesitant to tell her.

"I, well, they were having a party in the village, but there were no people there, only food. I flew down to look closer and, well, it was a trap, it seems. Ow!"

"What?" Maleficent asked, a grimace on her own face, and he frowned.

"Suddenly, suddenly they were hot and they made my skin feel like it was being burned."

Maleficent frowned, a sad look on her face.

"Look, Diaval, I can't touch these without burning both of us. Fairies can't touch iron."

Diaval's face fell, and he began to look truly frightened.

"How will I get them off?" he asked, his voice shaking as he tugged desperately at the things that felt so wrong to a creature who so valued flight and freedom.

"I'm... Diaval, you will have to allow them to burn you for a moment, alright? Then I can get them off."

Diaval appeared confused, but he turned again, allowing her to see the handcuffs again, and then he let out a half cry, half gasp as the handcuffs burned into his wrists. A few moments later, they fell to the ground, each broken by a single glowing, orange cut.

"How did you?" Diaval turned, rubbing his wrists and wincing at the pain that had not left, then his face fell further than before. "You did not, burn them off?"

Maleficent turned away, pacing toward the edge of the moors; Diaval did not get an answer.

That night, Maleficent created a wall of thorns, thus keeping the soldiers of the castle from ever touching the moors again.

* * *

_She had come for me that time in the castle, surely she would come again._

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**AU: **_So, whatcha think? Click that little review button down there and let me know :)_


	8. Chapter 7

Thank you to **DancingKitKat, Diosa Luna, The Golden Sun, EmberskyofShadowClan, laurenkeyblade, Guest,** and** Durin'sFolk **for commenting, and thanks also to the follows and favorites. The comments really do mean a lot! One of them helped get this chapter up today. :)

**AU:** _Okay, well this took forever, and I'm super duper sorry! My summer has been so crazy, but I'll try really, really hard to get the next update up much, much sooner than this one came. As it turns out, summer can be more crazy than school year…_

_Also, kinda sad chapter, but it shows a lot about the characters and things! Hope you enjoy_

_Again, thanks to **FanOfRandomThings** for helping with this story :)_

* * *

Days passed, and Diaval remained in his human form. When Maleficent didn't turn him back, Diaval didn't question it. In fact, he hardly minded. After all, the raven in him only seemed to bring problems upon himself. He had Mistress due to one such problem brought on by his raven-self, and he wondered whether this was a curse or a blessing.

It was a while before Diaval ventured even close to the edge of the moors, and that's when he discovered the wall of thorns. Confused, he hurried back to Maleficent, and she responded that it would keep out danger. Diaval distantly wondered whether it was a wall to keep people out, or a barrier to keep the magical creatures from leaving. Either way, he would be glad if he didn't come in contact with soldiers for a long time.

Still, he couldn't remain a man forever and never miss his wings, not really, so Diaval eventually approached Maleficent and asked if he could fly again. Maleficent asked where he would fly to, but when Diaval didn't answer, Maleficent simply shrugged, and within moments he was a sleek, black raven.

He let out a thankful caw before soaring into the sky to take a better look at the thorns that now surrounded the moors. He didn't think of himself a magical creature, he only had magic done to him, so he figured he was free to leave. He also figured that he would go check up on the little girl and see if she was alright, or if she needed more help. Those pixies were hopelessly incompetent. However, the closer he flew to the pixies' cottage, the more he had a deep urge to go see the castle. He knew it was a foolish idea, and yet something seemed to draw him there. Perhaps it was a need to face his fears? He'd never felt that need before, normally he wanted to flee from his fears, but for some strange reason he altered course and flew toward the large, foreboding castle.

Was being a man for so long effecting him? He had been a man wandering the moors for a long time now, and men did tend to be foolish, and yet this foolish venture seemed like such a necessity.

Landing delicately on a window sill, Diaval gazed down at the courtroom and gazed down at where the king and queen should be seated, they were nowhere to be found.

He flew to another window sill; lots of cooks preparing a meal, but no king or queen. Searching further proved fruitless. Sighing, Diaval continued to fly from window to window, until finally he arrived at something that looked vaguely like what he had learned sometime, long ago, was a bedroom; only this bedroom was strange. Instead of one bed, this room had many lining it's walls, all empty save three which had what appeared to be soldiers. This made Diaval balk, however it was clear all three soldiers were sleeping.

Two soliders had arms wrapped in white cloth, and the third had white cloth wrapped around his leg. This was so strange that, with another look to see if they were really asleep, Diaval entered the room to take a closer look. However, then something else caught his attention.

A grand tapestry, which rivaled even his own beautiful self, hung at one end of the room. Silently, Diaval flew over and landed beside the tapestry to see what was there. It was a blond woman, clutching the bed sheets tightly, her eyes closed gently. Diaval may have been wrong, but this woman almost looked like the queen.

Flying a bit closer, Diaval realized that this was the queen! Why was she in this strange room lined with beds in her own private little area?

As he landed on a table beside her, her eyes fluttered and she glanced at Diaval, who started and began to fly away. However, her soft voice pulled him back.

"Wait, pretty bird, you're safe here. Do not worry. I have heard tell of a magic raven, but I hold nothing against the raven, only the evil fairy."

Diaval was made slightly curious by this proclamation, so he stopped and landed on another table, just out of reach of the woman. A smile lit her face, and she let out of a small laugh at his inquisitive tilt of the head.

"You are a pretty bird," she told him. "You must be careful in the palace, for the guards are looking for you, if you are the same bird. You seem smart enough to be! You see, I am horrified by who my husband calls Maleficent. She has taken my girl, my sweet baby girl, I may never be able to hold and love my little Aurora, however, I cannot hold it in myself to despise other creatures such as yourself who may not have had a say in Maleficent's choice. That is something my own mother taught me. Often, people who have power make decisions, and those who are their servants must follow, whether out of admiration, or simply because they must. I cannot hold it against you, but I can hold it against her, for she is the one who placed the curse which might kill my baby, Aurora."

The queen seemed so sad, and suddenly Diaval felt a wave of sadness wash over him. Before, the curse had simply been something Mistress had done, and so it must be accepted. Besides, Stefan was so horrible that he deserved what he got! However, this woman was not horrible, in fact Diaval thought she seemed sweet!

Flying a bit closer, Diaval let out a little, mournful caw for the queen, and she smiled a sad smile. Reaching delicately, she made to stroke his feathers, and though at first he balked, a moment later he allowed her to stroke his black, sleek feathers.

"Pretty bird," she told him, and he again gave a little caw in hopes of comforting this sad woman. Suddenly, he wondered about Mistress's curse. Could it have been a mistake? Perhaps she shouldn't keep it the way it was?

Diaval felt the need to do something in order to compensate for Maleficent's curse upon this woman's family, and so with a flick of his wings, Diaval flew away with a backward glance to tell the woman he would soon be returning.

Swooping low, Diaval found a knot of briar at the base of the castle. There were flowers growing from the briar, and so he plucked one with his beak and flew back up to the window. He flew back toward the curious woman and dropped the flower upon her bed. She picked it up carefully, and suddenly a smile lit her face.

"Thank you," she told Diaval, who nodded. Noises for behind a closed door caught their attentions, however, and the queen smiled at him again.

"Thank you," she repeated, "But you'd better be on your way."

Diaval nodded, flying from the castle and leaving the queen with her briar rose clutched in her pale, white hands.

* * *

That night, Maleficent turned Diaval into a man and asked where he'd gone, but he told her he'd only been flying around and looking at the countryside. For some unexplainable reason, he didn't want to talk to Mistress very much tonight, something made him feel nervous and sad around her.

Instead Diaval paced over to the forest, watching his mistress with a conflicted look upon his face. More than once Maleficent paused as if to think about something, and then she would cackle as if it had been the funniest joke one had ever told. Something inside made Diaval worry she was thinking about the curse, and he gulped. No, he decided, he did not agree with Maleficent's decision to cast this curse. In fact, it confused him how anyone could be happy that such a curse was cast on such a small being. It was not the first time he had watched from the shadows as Maleficent cackled about the curse, but it was the first time that a mist of water threatened to break from his eyes like some sort of rain.

With a sad sigh, Diaval then turned away and stalked into the depth of the moors to think about a time when he had nothing to worry about but finding food for the next day; a time when he wasn't working for the woman whose curse may kill a princess.

* * *

Diaval was beginning to fall asleep under a tree when a strange noise awoke him. It sounded like a distant yelling, and Diaval crept in its direction. It sounded to be coming from the other side of the wall of thorns, and indeed Diaval could see a sort of orange glow emanating from that direction.

When he passed Maleficent's throne, he saw that she was missing, and this worried Diaval. Had something happened to her? With a new sense of urgency, Diaval pressed on toward the orange glow. She had promised him that none could break through the wall of thorns, but what if Stefan with all of his power and all of his soldiers, could find a way?

The yelling became more clear the nearer Diaval came to the wall, and with a stab of panic, Diaval saw that the wall was on fire! The raven inside of Diaval told him to fly far away from the fire, but he couldn't abandon Mistress to such a dangerous situation, so he drew nearer.

The shouts sounded triumphant, and so Diaval worried that, indeed, Maleficent was in immediate danger, however he propelled himself backwards when suddenly the wall of thorns seemed to come to life! The twisted wood seemed to writhe beneath the flames, and the shouts of triumph turned into shouts of fear.

Diaval hid behind a tree as he watched the burning wall of thorns grow and change, slamming the ground on the other side. It didn't seem to be hurting his side, so Diaval crept closer again, wondering what was making this happen. Perhaps Maleficent was alright?

He couldn't see well through the smoke that was suddenly coming from the raging fire, plus the licking flames caught terror in his chest, so he climbed the tree he'd been hiding behind in order to get a closer look.

Then, his heart almost stopped.

Maleficent was standing on a little hill, magic glowing in her hands and a twisted smile placed upon her face. The writhing mass of thorns was her doing, and they were not only twisting under the flames, but shooting into a mass of men! Of course Diaval couldn't stand soldiers, but this made him cringe. How could the fairy who had saved his life and been so good to him, hold such cruelty toward these men?

Diaval turned away, just as the blazing fire began to die down, the shouts leaving the area behind. Apparently the soldiers had abandoned their quest. He was going to run from the spot, when Maleficent turned and saw him in the tree. The mad gleam in her eye changed as she viewed his horrified countenance. He blinked several times, gulping, and then he hurried down the tree and away from the spot, Maleficent's eyes following him broodingly.

* * *

**AU: **_So, what does Maleficent think of Diaval watching? Please comment and I'll try hard to update sooner next time!_


	9. Chapter 8

"I'll try to update sooner than last time…" Well, that obviously didn't happen :( I'm really sorry, I'm shocked by how busy I've been, definitely more busy than the school year. My school year, as well as **FanOfRandomThings** is beginning, so maybe we'll get more written. Thanks again to Fan for some tips on the chapter.

Thank you to **DancingKitKat, Diosa Luna, blackbloodywolf, EmberskyofShadowClan, Guest, and Durin'sFolk** for the reviews!

* * *

_"Pretty bird, you pretty bird…"_

It was an echo from his past, as well as something muttered just the day before. Perhaps it was simply something humans said, but either way Diaval had always liked the sound of it, pretty bird.

The whole day following his visit to the queen, Diaval wandered this way and that. He even snuck through the wall of thorns to stare at the cottage of the baby, curious how that little person was related to the sweet queen he'd met.

It was late when he finally returned, pacing up to the throne. There sat Mistress, silent and foreboding, yet when he appeared she physically jumped.

"Hello," he said, little emotion in his voice, and she nodded back at him.

"You've been gone all day long," Maleficent's voice was even, but it had a quality of uneasiness that surprised Diaval.

"Yes," he agreed. "I've been to the cottage."

"That's past the wall."

"Yes, it is. No one saw me."

Maleficent opened and closed her mouth several times, as if trying to find the correct words. Finally, she turned to him and nodded once.

"Good," she said. "It's good no one saw you. Don't go past the wall again, unless you're a crow."

"I'm a raven, I'm not a crow," Diaval sniffed.

"It's the same thing," Maleficent turned away to hide a miniscule smile at Diaval's obvious contempt for the mistake, and Diaval huffed.

"It isn't the same thing, crows are tiny, they make a much more annoying noise, and they have beady eyes. I'd rather be a mealy worm than a crow!"

"Alright," Maleficent turned to him, a sparkle in his eye, and Diaval cleared his throat quickly.

"Not that I want to be a mealy worm, Mistress."

The sparkle in Maleficent's eyes remained, but she turned away to examine her staff.

"I was wondering," Diaval hesitated, and Maleficent turned to him expectantly. "Have you ever met the queen?"

Maleficent stiffened, and Diaval frowned. Perhaps the queen was who had caused Mistress's 'boy problems'?

"I never have, nor do I care to," Diaval was told, so that was all he said about that subject.

* * *

The next morning, Diaval found himself to once again be a raven, and he took wing toward the castle, deciding to visit the queen once more. When he arrived at the window, he saw that the queen was holding a thing in front of her face. Curious, he flew closer, and she looked up.

"Oh, the raven! You mustn't come here anymore, the king will… You mustn't come here anymore!"

Diaval tilted his head, landing next to her and giving a soft caw of confusion.

"It's dangerous in here now. They're on the lookout for a raven. You mustn't come again, for I would be unable to keep you safe."

Diaval shook his head, then stared at the thing the queen was holding.

"Oh, alright, I'll talk to you this last time, but then you must never come here again, do you understand me?"

Diaval stared at her, and then nodded hesitantly.

"Good. Oh, are you wondering what this is? It's a book. You read it."

Diaval tilted his head, and the queen showed him the insides of the thing she was holding. Lines across the inside, and he wondered what the strange lines meant.

"This one is a fairy tale that my father had made especially for me," the queen continued. "It's called Beauty and the Beast. It's about a man who… He changes into a beast because he isn't very nice, and then a girl comes along. She changes him back into a man because she loves him, and they live happily ever after."

That sounded quite nice, actually, happily ever after. Ever after what, though? After the story? Diaval wanted to live happily ever after!

"It's a nice story; my father was told it by a bard from a far away kingdom," the queen continued. "Have you ever been to another kingdom?"

Diaval shook his head, he didn't think so.

"I have not either, though I once got quite close to our neighboring kingdom of fairies."

That was anther kingdom?

"Oh dear, someone is coming. Don't come back again, hurry! Pretty bird."

Diaval was beginning to take flight, but the door burst open and two men carrying were there.

"We heard a raven was seen flying in here, and we were supposed to come-"

"There it is!" the second man interrupted the first, and he rushed toward Diaval who flapped wildly for the window.

"Catch it!" The first yelled, his arms flailing for the bird.

"No, stop it!" the queen commanded, however the men still reached and tried to catch Diaval.

"I've got it!" the second soldier clasped Diaval's foot, however the raven turned and snapped his beak down on the soldier's finger. Moments later he disappeared from the room, flying back toward the moors.

He couldn't go there again, he realized, although he was going to miss the queen. She was nice; she called him pretty bird.

Back in the moors, he began to feel a slight ache in his leg. He wasn't sure was it was, but the longer he flew, the more it hurt. When he landed beside Mistress, he squawked and flew back in the air, his foot screaming at him when he landed.

"What is it?" Maleficent asked, her voice bored. Diaval flew around squawking, and then tried landing again. Again his leg hurt.

With a flick of her fingers, Maleficent turned Diaval into a man. He tried to land normally, but instead he let out a gasp and crumpled to the ground.

"What?" Maleficent asked.

"My… My foot feels bad," he murmured in confusion.

"Let me see," Maleficent glanced around before kneeling and looking at his foot. She frowned and then told him: "It isn't your foot, it's your ankle."

"Yeah, so?" he asked.

"So, it's hurt. It's twisted. I can heal it, but how did this happen?"

Maleficent concentrated, and then the hurt in Diaval's ankle disappeared.

"How did it happen?" Maleficent repeated.

"I… I caught it between two things when I was trying to fly," Diaval told her, before he frowned. Why had he told her that? He always told her what happened. It had never told a not truth before. Yet for some reason he didn't want to tell her that he'd been going to the castle. Besides, he would never got there again, so there was no reason to worry her.

"Alright," she nodded shallowly, he got the feeling that she knew he was telling a not truth.

"I want to go see Aurora," he declared suddenly. If he'd never see the queen again, he might as well see the little queen, right?

"Well," Maleficent said, "I don't see anything wrong with that. Go ahead, I'll turn you into a raven."

"You're not coming?" Diaval asked.

"I will come again someday, for now I think it is best that I stay here, behind the wall. Go on, you may see her whenever you so chose to. I have no opinion on that matter."

So, Diaval did go to see the tiny baby that day, and the next day, and the next. He continued to care for her, trying to make up for the three pixies lack of ability, although he found that they did sort of care about her, a little bit. At least they didn't throw her out and forget the whole thing.

It surprised him to see that she was changing over time. She was no longer quite so tiny and pudgy, now she was a bit taller and her hands could do things, such as grab his beak. That had been quite an experience. Trying not to bit the little princess (that was Mistress said she was, not little queen) was quite a challenge when she got her fingers so close to his beak. However, he'd managed.

By now, it was almost as if she expected him to come, for each day the tiny princess was caught staring at the tree by the window, waiting until the raven appeared.

* * *

"Do you want to come yet? It's been more than a year since you saw the little princess!"

"Perhaps I will come again."

"How about you come this time?"

"Diaval, if you want to go, then go."

"I'll be late!"

"Then go."

"Will you come next time?"

"Perhaps."

"You said that last time!"

"And I'll say it again if I so chose."

Diaval sighed, waiting for the usual transformation, and then he took to the sky. For a year he'd been trying to convince Mistress to go see the baby. For a year, she had refused. For the first time, he was late.

The baby had begun crying when he arrived, and the blue pixie was waving her arms about as if it would change the sound and make it lovely.

"Oh, I don't know what to do!" she cried, then she ran inside. Perhaps she was looking for the answer?

Diaval disregarded the implications of the pixie running inside, and he landed on the edge of her crib. Cawing softly, he began to rock her, and slowly her cries softened. A noise at the edge of the wood made Diaval turn his head, and he believed he saw a shadow standing there.

"Waven!" came a sudden noise, and Diaval looked down. In that moment, the shadow had disappeared.

"Waven!" the baby declared again, quite proud of herself. She giggled before saying the word a third time.

Diaval wondered how that word had ever wandered into her, as to now, inexistent vocabulary. Had Mistress ever been here? Diaval frowned, wondering why the little princess would know such a word.

"Did you hear that?" it was one of the pixies, so Diaval took to the sky, landing in a nearby tree.

"Waven!" the little girl said again.

"Her first word!" the blue pixie declared.

"And it's raven? Why that word? How would she know that word. I thought I would be her first word!" the blonde pixie pouted.

"Girls, one of us has obviously said this word, and she took a fancy to it. That's all there is to it. Now come on, I thought I was giving you a baking without magic lesson." That was the red pixie.

"Oh, I thought the cookies blew up…"

"Well we'll try again, come on!"

Diaval watched them go, wondering about how such a first word could have come about. Glancing in the shadows again, Diaval was sure that he saw a flash of horns, yet in a moment they were gone.

* * *

Review please! Also, thanks for all of your reviews on other chapters :-)


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